January E-Newsletter 2012
Posted on: 13 Jan 12
THIS MONTH
THANK YOU
From all of us here at Kids Company we would like to thank our friends for the fantastic support you have given us both throughout 2011 and with the Kids Company Christmas campaign.
With your incredible help Kids Company were able to support thousands of children, young people and families over the Christmas period.
On Christmas Day Kids Company picked up children and young people from all over London and brought them to The Kia Oval in South London, which had been transformed into a magical Christmas space. Staff and volunteers came and offered their skills, creating and running activities from face painting and football to massage, karaoke and a Santa’s grotto. At lunchtime Christmas dinner was served and everyone sat down to eat together. Food boxes were given out for families to take home for Boxing Day. At 4pm we handed out presents which were carefully and individually wrapped for each and every child. Finally, after a fun-filled day of activities and festive treats, taxis and minibuses, collected the children and dropped them back at their homes and hostels.
We would also like to say a big thank you for the hard work of volunteers over the Christmas period, who helped Kids Company with all sorts of events from shaking a collection tin on Oxford Street during the VIP AMEX Weekend to coming down and helping out on Christmas Eve with last minute wrapping and tinsel hanging.
Our Christmas would not have been possible without all of the generous donations, hard work and support that our amazing supporters and friends have given us, so a huge thank you from everyone at Kids Company!
PETER BLAKE
This month you have the chance to own a unique print from renowned English pop artist Sir Peter Blake. Lucky Strike x3 recently appeared in the Payne Shurvell’s Your Garden is Looking a Mess Could You Please Tidy it Up exhibition alongside work from a host of other contemporary artists.
The aim of the exhibition was to take as its starting point an icon of twentieth-century design: the Marlboro flip-top cigarette box, first introduced by Philip Morris in 1955, and explore ‘print’ in this period of reinvention, dismantling and possible cultural renewal. The Marlboro pack has a long history of visual appropriation, but as logos and advertising are increasingly removed, will an activity fueled by visual desire survive without the image?
Historically, magazines, record sleeves, CD cases, book covers and other printed visual ephemera acted as a coded visual display of how we thought. As the decline of the printed visual landscape continues and we become increasingly consumed by a sanitized digital (and in many cases virtual) one, how will the individual define him or herself in this shifting environment?
Lucky Strike x3 encapsulates the ideas behind this exhibition and acts as a springboard for other work that explores notions of printed material in a shifting and visually unpredictable landscape.
This is a fantastic opportunity for collectors or first time buyers to own a unique piece of work by Peter Blake that is also part of a wider display of cultural images. The one-off print is available for the same price as his limited edition prints (of which 100 or more have been created.) The net proceeds from the sale will be donated to Kids Company, which equates to two thirds of the final price – making it a perfect guilt-free investment!
If you are interested in the piece please contact Joanne Shurvell at jo@payneshurvell.com or your Kids Company contact.
DATE FOR DIARY
ARTS FOR HEART’S SAKE
Join us on Thursday 9th February at 20 Margaret Street, London, W1W 8RS for a preview auction night of photographs and artwork in aid of Kids Company. Please email Imogen.lovell-smith@kidsco.org.uk if you are interested in coming along and we’ll add you to the guest list!
TEA WITH CAMILA
On Wednesday 8th February at 4.30pm Kids Company will be hosting 2012’s first Tea with Camila. The event will be a brilliant opportunity to hear Camila speak, find out more about Kids Company and how your company can get involved and engage with us whether it is through volunteering, fundraising or mentoring. Please contact suzie.curran@kidsco.org.uk if you wish to attend.
COMING UP
Run the adidas Silverstone Half Marathon for Kids Company
Are you feeling the need to get fit after the festive period? Why not take part in the adidas Silverstone half marathon for Kids Company, lose pounds for you, gain £’s for us!
The adidas Silverstone Half Marathon takes place at the historic, world famous Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit and is a great race for those of you who want to take the step up from shorter races or as a part of your training for a Marathon.
Why not join in with colleagues, friends or family and make a day out of it! You could even make it a competition to see who can raise the most sponsorship!
Registration deadline: Monday 13 February 2012
Race day: Sunday 11 March 2012
For more information on how to register, see attached PDF or email suzie.curran@kidsco.org.uk or call 020 7202 2700.
IN THE PRESS:
Christmas 2011 saw the Archbishop of Canterbury give his New Year speech at Kids Company’s Camberwell centre with interviews with some of Kids Company’s staff and young people. Watch here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTV7-yIycms
